Davie Yards Inc. has halted work on the first and most advanced of five offshore oil supply ships ordered by international customers, and on Monday a further 100 workers will be laid off at its Lévis facilities opposite Quebec City, The Montreal Gazette reported. Davie was given protection from creditors under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act on Feb. 24 after it ran out of cash and began a second restructuring program. It said almost 1,600 employees would be laid off, leaving about 160 working to complete the first vessel and on engineering and planning.

An Alberta judge has appointed a receiver over the companies and assets of Gary Sorenson, who is charged in an alleged fraud that has ballooned to as much as $500-million, making it the country's largest alleged Ponzi scheme, the National Post reported. The justice found that Mr. Sorenson's businesses, known as the Merendon companies, which are located in Central and South America, have received more than $50-million from companies run by his alleged co-conspirator in the Ponzi scheme, Milowe Brost. "None of the companies has accounted for any of the monies received.

Skyservice had survived recessions and dips in travel demand before, The Globe and Mail reported. This past winter marked its eighth year of serving tour operator Signature Vacations and the 15th year of flying on behalf of Sunquest Vacations, which is owned by Thomas Cook Canada Inc. And Skyservice appeared to have had access to a steady stream of revenue from its two major customers until the fall of 2012, court files show. But this time was different. In January, Signature completed its merger with Sunwing Travel Group, which operates its own fleet of planes.

Wilbur Ross, the billionaire US turnaround specialist, has bought a 21 per cent stake in Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Money for £100 million as the group prepares to make a major assault on the UK banking market, The Scotsman reported. Ross, nicknamed the "King of Bankruptcy", is also prepared to pump in "hundreds of millions" more to fund acquisitions, including Virgin's £2 billion bid for 318 Royal Bank of Scotland branches. Virgin will join Clydesdale Bank owner National Australia Bank and Santander in submitting a bid for the RBS assets ahead of tomorrow's deadline.

Defense attorneys want a federal judge to throw out a $24 billion predatory lending lawsuit filed against Credit Suisse Group by investors in broke resorts in the West and the Bahamas, The Associated Press reported. The investors contend Credit Suisse set up a branch in the Cayman Islands to skirt U.S. rules and appraised the resorts at inflated prices as part of a scheme to later foreclose on the properties. In court documents filed Monday, attorneys for Credit Suisse said the legal action was based on absurd claims by people who never borrowed money from the bank.

One of Ireland's best-known architectural firms Murray Ó Laoire has gone into liquidation, with the loss of more than 120 jobs, The Irish Times reported. The company cited cumulative bad debts, the difficult market and problems in getting paid on time for the collapse of the business. Murray Ó Laoire has offices in Dublin, Limerick, Cork, Slovakia, Russia, Germany, Libya, Barbados and Abu Dhabi. The company employs 127 people, with the majority of its staff based in Ireland.

Haemacure Corp said it received permission from the Superior Court of the Province of Quebec to sell its assets to Angiotech Pharmaceuticals Inc, a secured creditor of Haemacure, Reuters reported. The Canada-based biotherapeutic company said the United States Bankruptcy Court had previously authorized the sale to Angiotech of the assets of Haemacure's U.S. subsidiary. Haemacure also said it obtained a second extension, until April 19, within which to make a proposal to its creditors.

Michel Barnier, the European commissioner in charge of financial market regulation, said he would propose controls to curb speculative trading in credit default swaps, (CDS) a form of debt insurance that has been blamed for worsening Greece's economic problems, Telegraph.co.uk reported. His measures will target so-called naked selling of CDS, where insurance contracts are sold to buyers who do not own the debt. The cost of CDS on Greece rocketed when fears grew that the country could default on its debt.

General Motors of Canada Ltd. has rejected calls to follow its parent company's example and voluntarily reinstate dealers who were terminated when the auto maker restructured its operations last year, saying courts and arbitrators should rule on demands by some dealers that their businesses be restored, The Globe and Mail reported. "We cannot rewrite history," Marc Comeau, GM Canada's vice-president of sales and marketing, said in a letter to Canadian Automobile Dealers Association (CADA) president Rick Gauthier and the company's remaining Canadian dealers. That answer to Mr.